NSR Report Finds VSAT & Broadband Satellite Market Recovery on the Horizon

Cambridge, Mass., November 15, 2017–NSR’s VSAT and Broadband Satellite Markets 16th Editionreport found an industry primed for growth again after several challenging years.  NSR forecasts the entire installed base for fixed VSATs to reach 17.8 million active sites by 2026, generating over $25.6 billion in annual service revenues.

“The Consumer Broadband satellite market is back on the growth track. One key is newly available capacity in North America, which allows the market to add subs again. The NBN program in Australia is adding thousands of new premises per month and, Hughes proved that, with efficient distribution channels, the model can generate attractive levels of demand even in emerging economies. Europe is still far from developing its full potential, but stronger retail focus has yielded initial results,” states Lluc Palerm, NSR Senior Analyst and report author. “NSR is optimistic about the long term potential of this market. “
 
“Based on new subs and exploding bandwidth consumption over the next 10 years, more than 7 Tbps of new demand will be generated; creating extraordinary opportunities for capacity revenues. Distribution is key for success. The skyrocketing number of subs will also translate into an enormous opportunity for equipment vendors’, states  Palerm.  “Margins will be thin in a highly contested ecosystem, but scale is unmatched by any other opportunity in the satellite industry, generating close to 33 million shipped units in the next 10 years.”
 
In the Fixed Enterprise VSAT market, overall prospects are improving. After several very difficult years where macroeconomic pressures and competition deteriorated market conditions, the industry is expanding again. Market elasticity is finally unlocking verticals like Cellular Backhaul, which will generate 3 of every 4 new dollars in Capacity Revenues. Social Inclusion is another vertical taking off, with several countries planning programs with tens of thousands new sites. Traditional markets are encountering enhanced levels of demand with better prospects for commodities and currency exchange rates stabilizing. The Energy vertical is a good example as activity is on the rise again. Government and Military projects are also expanding. In summary, NSR estimates the customer base for Enterprise VSAT to expand by 1.3 million new sites generating over $10.5 billion in annual Service Revenues by 2026.

NSR’s VSAT and Broadband Satellite Markets, 16th Edition study is the industry leading analysis and forecast of all key market segments within the overall VSAT & satellite broadband sector, including Retail/Hospitality, Banking, Social Inclusion, Energy, Mil/Gov, Backhaul & Trunking and Consumer Broadband. The study assesses the installed base of sites and subscribers in five different regional markets, investigates trends impacting market growth, forecasts service revenues, equipment shipments and revenues, and predicts satellite capacity demand and revenues for each market vertical, region and frequency. Beyond classic C-, Ku- and Ka-band FSS capacity, NSR also led the industry in forecasting use of High Throughput Satellites (HTS) break down into different bands (C-, Ku- & Ka-bands) for GEO-HTS systems and assesses the impact of Non-GEO HTS constellations in the Broadband Markets.

For additional information on this report, including a full table of contents, list of exhibits and executive summary, please visit www.nsr.com or call NSR at +1-617-674-7743.